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Of all God's gifts, the ability to see is one of the most precious. It is the sense of sight that saves mankind from living in darkness. It is the sense of sight that permits individuals to communicate with each other and to future generations through literature and art. It enables man to enjoy the magnificence of a sunset and the promise of a rainbow.

Unfortunately, sight is often taken for granted. Few realize how many of our citizens lose their sight every year. Yet many forms of blindness can be cured if discovered soon enough, and many blinded by accident could have kept their sight had they taken only minor eye safety precautions.

Each of us has the responsibility to care for that which is ours. Our eyesight and the eyesight of our children should be paramount on the list of personal responsibilities. Money cannot but it, but a check-up and early care can preserve it.

To remind all Americans of the importance of good vision and of the ways we can safeguard our eyesight, the Congress, by joint resolution approved December 20, 1973 (77 Stat. 629, 26 U.S.C. 169a), has requested the President to proclaim the first week in March of each year as "Save Your Vision Week."

Now, Therefore, L Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week beginning March 1, 1981, as Save Your Vision Week. I urge all of our citizens to join this observance by showing greater concern for preserving vision and preventing eye injury at home, at work, and at play. Also, I call upon educators and communicators, as well as eye care professionals, to stress to the public the importance of eye care and eye safety for Americans of all ages.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-third day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred eighty-one, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifth.